Minister of State for Public Administration and Co-Chair of the Hungarian-Algerian Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation Dr. Csaba Balogh was on an official to Algiers on 4-5 December. In addition to co-chairing the session of the Joint Economic Committee, the Minister of State also held meetings with Algeria’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, as well as holding negotiations on topics relating to agriculture and sport.
The second session of the Hungarian-Algerian Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation was held in Algiers on 4-5 December. The Hungarian delegation was led by Minister of State for Public Administration Dr. Csaba Balogh, while the leader of the Algerian delegation was the Democratic People’s Republic of Algeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries Abdelkader Bouazghi.
During his visit to Algiers, Mr. Balogh was received by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, following which he held bilateral talks with Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel, the President of the Algerian Olympic Committee and the President of the Algerian Football Association.
At the meetings, the parties praised the positive effects on tourism and bilateral trade enabled by the direct air passenger service between Budapest and Algeria that has existed since 2016. They highlighted the fact that the Hungarian-Algerian Business Council, which was founded during the session, could give new impetus to direct cooperation between enterprises. Hungary is prepared to support cooperation between our enterprises that is aimed at Algerian production that relies on knowledge export and is realised in the form of joint ventures. Based on the cooperation agreements concluded with Algerian spots associations in the interests of improving cooperation, the possibility of participating on joint training camps, international courses for trainers and sports science studies was raised, in addition to the transfer of Hungarian experience within the field of sports facility development.
Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries Abdelkader Bouazghi and Minister of State for Public Administration Dr. Csaba Balogh praised the success of cooperation within the field of agricultural innovation. Since the establishment of the Joint Economic Committee two years ago, relations between the two countries’ agriculture research institutes have improved significantly, and visits by research delegations have become regular occurrences.
The development of agricultural relations is also indicated by the fact that in May 2017 several Algerian business delegations travelled to Hungary in search of Hungarian partners, primarily within the field of the food industry. During the session of the Joint Economic Committee, the negotiating partners agreed that forestry, cereal farming, freshwater aquaculture and vegetable seed production are fields of cooperation with major perspectives.
The most important fields of cooperation pinpointed by the Joint Economic Committee were trade, investments, industry, agriculture, fisheries, energy and IT and communications technology, as well as sport and tourism.
The activity of relations between Hungary and Algeria is indicated by the fact that following the Committee’s plenary session on 5 December the parties concluded a cooperation agreement within the fields of fisheries, tourism and IT and communications technology, in addition to which the Hungarian-Algerian Business Council was also set up.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)
